Israeli attacks leave at least 20 dead in Gaza
By Rodrigo Santos Andrade
Japan’s cabinet has approved a record-high military budget for fiscal year 2026, topping nine trillion yen (about $58 billion) – a 9.4 percent increase from the previous year. The spending plan prioritizes enhanced strike capabilities, expanded coastal deployments with new vessels and drones, and broader military modernization. The move appears to be part of a wider shift in Japan’s security posture. Under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, the ruling coalition is easing long-standing restrictions on arms exports and even signaling the possession of nuclear weapons – issues once considered politically untouchable. These steps follow recent remarks that Japan could intervene militarily in China’s national reunification process between the mainland and Taiwan. So are these measures purely defensive adjustments, or do they signal the early stages of a deeper strategic transformation? And what does Japan’s evolving military posture mean for its neighbors, many of whom still carry painful memories of Japan’s militaristic past?
Guests in this edition of Dialogue are Victor Gao Zhikai, chair professor from Soochow University; Professor Anna Rosario Malindog-Uy, director and vice president for external affairs of the Asian Century Philippines Strategic Studies Institute; Professor Peter Kuznick, director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University; and Dr Slobodan Popovic, research fellow from the Institute of International Politics and Economics.
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